IS Virus: Episode 6 -Onset-
by tonbonkittybon
Summary: It's official. Phantom Task is still alive and kicking. An entire organization, now reduced to four, hiding from the limelight. For them, it gets personal. For everyone else, it gets technical. The hunt is on to vanquish the virus before it strikes its next victim. So far, it has been dormant. It's only a matter of time before the real symptoms surface.
1. Right in the Feels

_Episode 6: Onset_

 _Part 1: Right in the Feels..._

Afternoon on the beachside...a rocky cliff and tree canopy rooftop shielding two people from the sun's blinding light...and the prying eyes of the world.

"Nnn..." Sokoto slowly emerged from his slumber, "Ugh...ow, my head...the hell was I doing?..."

He rubbed his eyes until his head was clear. He stared up at a tree leaf until he recalled all recent events, "Oh, yeah...we were on the run for...how long?" He felt all over his body, and came to the conclusion that he was out for more than one night. However long it was, it didn't feel long enough. He looked at his side. Madoka was still sleeping soundly.

"Hey...Hey, Madoka! Wake up!" Or, it looked like it. He shook her as hard as he could to call her body to attention. He tried poking her most sensitive spots with a sharp twig for five full minutes. Nothing.

"Come on. You pick now to conk out on a coma?..." he sighed, "Uy...Well, at least we won't be bored 24/7, eh Silvia?" He checked his left wrist, only to find it bare.

"Oh..." That's right. She got stolen. And he doesn't know any way of reclaiming her. Well, now that he's assessed the situation, he has to investigate his environment.

"Let's see..." He crawled towards the bushes to have a peek at the outside world. What he found... "Oh. Oh, no. Oh, no no no no nooohohohohooo...My inner curious is showing..." Yep. There were people. Mainly women looking for a place to escape the world and enjoy a secluded, personalized moment in the most beautiful way possible. And to the right was a motel.

They crashed at an ocean rest stop.

"Oh my god, soon much to waste our time so gleefully..." he muttered to himself before racing back to Madoka's motionless body, "Oh, do we have any..." he was scrambling to find anything that can record video, "Come on...where is it?..." he checked her are of occupancy until he noticed something glimmering behind her. He immediately reached for it and held it up as if to show the players what they had allowed him to find.

"Body cams. For when you're too lazy to buy surveillance, yet too snooty to buy spies!" He ripped out the straps from the camera and threw them at Madoka's face. Then, he emerged from the green shelter to pull his latest pranks.

In the nude...What in the holy mother of f*** happened to TONING IT DOWN, SOKOTO?!

Two weeks later...

"Nnn...nngghnhhhhh..." Madoka woke up to the gentle touch of the morning breeze, "Uhh...what happened?..."

She slowly looked around her and noted her surroundings. Then, she started to feel around her head, "Ugh...owwww...mmm, how long have I been asleep?..."

But her headache has become increasingly painful by a certain piercing shriek of laughter, to which her irritation levels have broken her tolerance scale. She grabbed the nearest rock and chucked it at the source of the laughter, "Can you NOT for five f****** seconds?!"

"Yow!" Sokoto caught the rock and threw it back.

"Uy!" Headshot, "Uhhhhh...I can't believe you did that, piss-ass..."

"Oh...oops..." he sheepishly scratched his hair, then diverted back to reviewing his camera.

Madoka started to rub her head, when she realized that she can't fell anything in her body. "Ugh...how long have I been out?..."

"Oh, uh...two weeks."

"Huh?..." she sat up and stared at him blankly, "The hell?..."

"Seriously," he chucked the camera behind him and gave her the telling-a-story-look, "We were running for an entire night. We finally fainted here in this spot. I woke up and had myself a little fun, but you were caught in a two-week coma."

"WHAT?!"

"Relax," he waved his hands at her, "Nothing bad happened to you! I made sure of that!"

"Uh...how..." she instantly regretted asking.

"Whenever somebody came out way," he casually pointed to the mask behind her, "I scared them off with the classic bad juju mask."

"THE F*** HAPPENED TO TONING IT DOWN?!" she threw her hands up in disbelief, but he answered with:

"Uh, Madoka? We're fugitives trying to rescue our friends. In what sense would toning it down make anything easier? If anything we'd have to play maiden in a world. That's all you've been doing until now, and that's definitely not how we should do it anymore."

"Hohhhh~~" she cannot believe what she just heard. Does this kid not know anything about being a fugitive? As in, you're supposed to tone it down for the sake of secrecy? She plopped back down ingress when she noticed something tingly about her body. She could feel it again. Too well. She felt something itch on her shoulder, so she reached to scratch it. And that's when it hit her.

"Ack! My clothes!" There was nothing to cover her up. Barely any leaves to find.

"Oh, right," he nonchalantly stated, "They all disintegrated when we got caught in that big f*** you laser."

"What? Then, that means that-"

"Yep!" he got up, "We are on our own! Again..." And that's when her eyes laid on his nether-regions.

"Oh my-dude!" she stuffed some dirt in her eyes, "Put that thing away!"

"What thing?" he twitched his head to and fro.

"That...the willie-the...thing-PENIS!"

"Eup-Ppbbtaahahahahaaaa!" he fell laughing so hard. All she could do was stare in amazement at how he could be so relaxed when he's indecently exposing himself. He wiped a few tears from his eyes and said,"Hahahah...ahhhhhh...You're really funny sometimes, y'know that?"

"Funny, what are you-Do you not see the look on your...Just make some pants or something! Just hide that thing away from me!"

He cocked his head to the side, "...Why?"

She looked up and froze. D...did he just say what she thought he just said? "Are you serious?"

"What?"

"You don't know know why you should cover up?..." she looked at him puzzled.

"Uh...should I have?" Oh my GOD! THE RENEGADE'S A TOTAL IDIOT!

"Ugh...then where did you learn how to cuss'em out?!"

"America, Mexico, Brazil, they're all blatant. The UK's crazy creative with their insults, but the Scottish slums are more in-your-face than anywhere else in the region. Oh! There's this crazy long insult some Egyptian dude came up with-"

She held her hand out to stop him, "Ok! Ok! Didn't need to know your entire resumé..."

"Come on! Why are you blushing! Someone took your fancy, didn't he?"

Well, how do I say this...in all the missions that Madoka's been on...she's never seen one. At all, "Get that thing away from me!"

"Wow...someone disconnected too early."

"I'll disconnect your d*** from you head if you-"

"Hey, mommy! I think I saw something move!" A little child was signaling her arrival.

"Oooooh, another victim!" Sokoto was extremely amped up now. He ran for the mask and donned it while practicing his madman gibberish and monkey imitation. Once he was ready, he leapt out of the bushes and proceeded to create the leading of his next monster.

All while Madoka questioned everything that happened since the renegade first appeared. Is this whacko really the key to Phantom Task's resurgence? The same boy who was able to pilot an IS (even though he couldn't pilot all those other ISs he touched)? The same man who was able to bring down the most powerful force in the world of the Infinite Stratos? The same man who could snap the creator's leg in two?

The same man making little children cry with his sad imitation of Uka Uka? That same man who can't tell a penis from a tablet, or a woman's breasts from a willow tree?

But, surprisingly, that's not even the most shocking part. She saw every inch of his body covered in gashes and scars. She even saw where the knife went all those years ago.

"Hauuuuhhhhh..." she plopped back down on the grass, "No, seriously...The hell's he been doing all this time?..." Well, in the coming days, she'll get a small taste of what he's been up to. Because they are paired for their first raid in two years, his first raid as a member of Phantom Task! And as a pair, they'll have to cooperate with each other. Before. During. And after she reclaims the Black Knight.

"Someone put me back in prison..." she whispered before sending herself into deep slumber once more, praying that she will not wake up sooner than she has too.

A week earlier...

Nighttime at a love hotel in the Shizuoka Prefecture...

Squall: "AGH! AHAA! STOP! PLEASE!"

Autumn: "Why? I thought you liked it like that..."

Squall: "AGH! NO! OW! IT HURTS! AHAHA IT HURRRHURHURHURRRTS..."

Autumn: "Come on. You think this is enough to repay me?"

Squall: "AAAAAAAOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW!"

Autumn: "That's it...Let me hear you scream more."

Squall: "Wait! NO! WHERE ARE YOU PUTTING TH-"

Autumn: "Boop."

Squall: "MMMMMMMMMMMMFMFMFMFMMMMMMMMMMMGHMGMMHMGMGMHMHGMGMMMFMMMFMGMGMMHNFNFGMHNMNMFNGMHNMFGNMFNMNMFNMGNMHNMGNMHNMGHNMGNFMNMFNMGNHMGN~"

Autumn: "That's it...That's my girl...Don't worry...You'll be safe with me from now on..." *CHOMP!*

Squall: "MMMMMMMMHMHNHMNHMHMHNMHNHMHMHMHMHMHMMMMMMMMMMM~"

15 minutes later...

So, after...whatever the hell just happened, Autumn finally stopped and walked towards the door, "I'm going out for a while. Do behave until I return." And she just left. That's it.

Really. She just left Squall as was. The sensastion of the searing of her flesh must've sent an incredible action potential because mere minutes after Autumn left, her hands were able to slip through her cuffs. She immediately freed her entire body from enduring anymore pain, then stopped everything to take a few large breaths,

"Haha...hah...hah...hah...hah...hahhh...hahhhh...hahhh...uuuuuuuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuuuuu..."

She scooted up, hugged her legs, burried her head behind her knees, and started to sob uncontrollably. The pain starts to numb her entire body, but her normally hardened heart has finally broken its shell to reveal a torn-actually, it's a puzzle with one of its pieces destroyed.

"What've I done?...What've I done to her?..."

Really? You're asking that now?...It should've been obvious to you, and yet you're asking yourself this every single day. Ah, geez. Let's do a little backtracking and constantly reminding.

Squall's group launched a direct assault on the 3rd Mondo Grosso, during the final fight. They were supposed to steal all data recorded during the entire tournament and eliminate anyone who found them out. Three problems with this.

First: The people who found them out were two of the IS Representative Candidates. The area Autumn was supposed to go in was restricted, requiring an access code to enter the main server room. Problem is, she crossed paths with Cecilia and Houki, the two pilots whom she severely underestimated. All it took was one quick menacing glare for them to quickly recognize her. Luckily, they had a contingency plan just in case they were caught. Yeah, guess how that turned out.

Second: When it came time to decide their fates during the heat of the fight, their true natures shown through. Even though Madoka constantly tried to kill Chifuyu and Ichika, she still had feeling for them, mainly because they had the one thing she never had, something that loses all value once it's taken away from them, but also because of family bonds. Autumn continued to cling to Squall's side, even going so far as to shield her from multiple direct attacks because her IS was a taking unit. The deciding moment was the final attack. All of the Representative Candidates came together and launched the United Reiraku Byakuya against Squall's group.

Had all three of them stood together, their ISs could've combined energy output to block the attack. Instead, they separated. Madoka found a small weak spot in the giant f*** you spear and pursued it alone. Squall used Autumn's deep affection as a scapegoat. She just shoved her directly into the full brunt of the attack. Madoka dispersed the attack in time to give Squall a chance to escape undetected. Unfortunately, Autumn was presumed dead, and although Madoka critically injured Chifuyu, she could not handle the rest of them all at once.

Third: Madoka implicitly gave the Candidates the exact location of Phantom Task's board of directors. When they stormed the compound, what followed was the biggest mistake made by a seasoned warrior since sacrificing a fellow comrade to make your ends meet.

Piling your own agents' bodies on their conscience. Yeah! 'Cuz that's how you bring them down to your level when you realize you've already lost, right?! Right?! RIGHT?! PUSHING THE F****** ENVELOPE HERE!

Whenever she attacked, she'd attack relentlessly without regards to her surroundings. Whenever they attacked, she manipulated THEIR surroundings, to the point where it was impossible to get anywhere near her without killing the innocent in her way. Unfortunately, that just made everyone angrier.

And ultimately, it did nothing to prevent Phantom Task's downfall. She was pierced anyway and left to die.

Underneath the rubble, Squall emerged just as construction workers were about to arrive for cleanup. She quickly resumed her normal lifestyle as suited for a fugitive, thinking that she'll get another chance to rebuild and strike again. However, she would soon cross Autumn's path under the blood moon in Moscow. Long story short, she was overpowered via sheer bone break, heartbreak, and everything in between. Madoka was bailed out of prison, but in the six months that followed, no one (except Ichika) was willing to forget what she had done as "M", much less forgive. She ran away in the seventh month and found Squall and Autumn under the Tokyo Tower.

They laid low for a few weeks until the renegade surfaced. And the rest is history.

Maybe for Sokoto, but not for the other three, who are still finding a more permanent means to cope with the gashes in their hearts. Autumn seriously loved Squall, but in the end she was merely one of her polishing tools. It took her weeks to piece together why she was shoved aside mercilessly by her one true love. Squall herself was feeling the punishments and consequences of her heartless actions. Worst of all, this. She's broken free of her restraints. She could leave break out of her hellhole and never look back. She could've done it anytime she wanted to.

Yet she couldn't. Or, rather...she CHOSE NOT to.

She had deigned herself to these punishment because...well, for the first time, she felt hurt. Not because of how she used the people around her, but because Autumn made her see how much she hurt her especially. It is the classic "Here's a sweet soulmate willing to do anything for you; go abuse her" cheese, but then comes a new surprise ingredient the chef likes to toss in once in a while. For some, it's bitter sweet. Others may find it a bit too sweet. But for Squall, it was so juicy, so tangy, that it left a horrible aftertaste. No particular flavor, just bad. One that will never be washed away. All she did her whole life was use people, and rarely did she give anyone a chance to catch their breath when she's about to assimilate them into her ranks. She molded them the way she saw fit, and tossed aside those whom she couldn't mold. And here comes the one person she molded too well. The one person who looked up to her, became her, loved her as she was molded to become an extension of her inner self...

...And guess how that went.

"I'm...sorry...I'm...so...sor...ry..." Squall's tear production ramped up to the max. She knew the damage had been done. For all the apologies she could come up with, none come close to scratching the surface of her despair. Maybe this is all just a combination of self-pity and self-satisfaction. Maybe she owed it to stay with Autumn, enduring torture after torture until it finally lets up.

That's what she'd like to believe, but she knows that's not true. So, what is it? Why does she feel obligated to endure?

There was no time to think about needless questions, because she just sensed an ominously familiar presence returning from her trip. "Oh my god..." Instead of trying to run for her life, she reset everything. She bore the pain, which was amplified due to her rushing the punishment on herself, and put herself back into submission just in time for Autumn to walk back inside as if nothing has changed.

Autumn: "Hey, sweetie...I just came back from the convenience store...You won't believe the deals they have there..."

Squall: "MMMMM! MMMM! MM-MM! MM-MM! MM-MM! MM-MM!"

Autumn: "I wonder...Could I be able to make an omelet without making the pan explode?...Well, it seems to be heated to optimum level...Yeah! Let's do it!"

Squall: "MMMMHMGMGMGNFMNGMMMMM...HMMHHH...MHHMMHHH...Hmmhhh...hhhhh...hhh...hhhh...hhh..."

Autumn: "Oh, right. We making it fried. Pbbtt. Silly me."

Squall: "MMMMMMMMMNMNMNMNMNMMMHMHMHMFMFMFMFMHMMNMNMNMGMGMHHMMNMMMMMMMMMM~:

Autumn: "Alright! Let's get cooking!"

Squall: "MMMMMMM-MMMMM-MGHFGHMFGMHFMGHFGMHMFGMHFGHFMGHMFGHFGHFGHFGH~"

Autumn: "Okay, now whisk it until the colors blend..."

Squall had to take it. She was doing this for Autumn, after all. She couldn't leave until she found a way to repay her for everything she cause to happen. 'It's ok,' she thought, 'I'm ok. I don't know how I can make you forgive me...but I'll do whatever I can to help you...'


	2. Revenge of the Felled

_Part 2: Revenge of the Felled_

"God F****** DAMMIT!" Laura, still in her Schwarzer Regen, crumbled the cave's entryway with just one punch, "HOW COULD WE LET THE LITTLE S***FACE ESCAPE AGAIN?!"

"This is an unmitigated disaster!" Cecilia ranted on, "Not only did we lose the renegade, but we were puffed by...by..."

"Phantom Task..the main trio of w****s..." Chifuyu hissed.

They failed to apprehend the renegade again. This time, however, he had help from Phantom Task. They were waiting for them at just the right spots so they could escape once more.

"How did they survive?!" Chelsea was this close to cracking... "They were all eradicated at the 3rd Mondo Grosso! I saw them suffer the United Reiraku Byakuya!"

"Yeah, well that's only part of the story," Maya muttered.

"Part of it?! PART OF IT?!" And Chelsea cracked, "What do you mean, "Part of it," miss instructor?!"

"Well...Phantom Task had nano machines to-"

A generator blew up, collapsing part of the rocky tunnel. Chelsea deployed Crescendo to catch the rubble and protect the group. Once the smoke cleared, so was the suspicion of who detonated the generator...

...the red forehead pagan witch, "AAAAAAGH! I was so close! I had him! I could've squeezed him until his lungs became shriveled up hollowed walnuts, but I...but I...RAAAAGH! F*** YOU, RENEGADE!" One more punch, and half of the tunnel went. The three immediately sprang into action.

"Someone calm her down!" Cecilia lunged at her, but she was knocked away.

"Commander!" Clarissa slid under her and tripped her down, "Easy, now!" Then, she leapt on her back when she rose up in renewed rage.

"LET ME GO!" Laura let loose her wired daggers at everyone and everything, "I'LL SLICE HIS HEAD OFF!" The daggers finished the destruction of the tunnel.

"Laura, no! We need him alive!" Chelsea strained her legs down, "We have to subdue him if we want to achieve total victory!"

After hearing those words, she finally managed to calm down, little by little, until she no longer felt the absolute rage to kill everything in sight.

"Fine...I get it..." she shrugged off her stranglers and walked off towards the cliff. The rest of the group gathered.

"So...what are we going to do now?..." Maya asked.

"I dunno..." Chifuyu sighed, "Phantom Task has allied with the renegade. We need somebody else to go after them while we track him down."

"I'm going after the renegade." Laura hissed through clenched teeth, "I can't let him run freely after what he did to me."

"Uh," Cecilia scoffed, "You mean, what you did to him?"

"And what the hell do you mean by that, blondie?" Laura snapped.

"You know what I mean, German She-Hulk."

"Care to explain, Miss Redundantly Dead?"

"I know what you were doing with him, how you were sucking up to his ego at all those shopping mishaps!"

"RRRAAAAAARRRGH!" Laura once again lashed out, causing everyone to try and re-restrain her. Except Cecilia, who crossed her arms and laughed.

"Commander, please get ahold of yourself!" Clarissa screamed as she was thrown off. After another struggle, Laura regained her sanity.

"That's right," Cecilia, however, didn't, "Sit back and let the not-blowers do your work!"

"Milady! Please!" Chelsea tried to calm her down.

"You'd play up to his love interests just so you could tangle him up by yourself, wouldn't you?!"

"What the hell is wrong with you, Alcott?!" Clarissa screamed.

"Me?! What about her?! All she did was play the renegade's whore this whole time! She'll bend over and stuff his mouth with her stained panties for him! She's just a little b****!"

"And isn't that what being a spy is all about? Deception?" Chelsea protested.

"Oh, don't give me that bulls***t! She should've wrangled him down the moment she saw him! She should've not allowed him any quarter, even for a millisecond!"

Well, lady, you're about to see what will happen had she followed your advice. For her rant was interrupted by a huge shadow of a Titan IS.

"Oh, Cecilia..." Laura creepily cooed, "You know that one component that got removed from my IS..."

"What the..." Cecilia stopped everything.

"No...you didn't..." So did Clarissa.

Maya slowly limped toward the group, "I tried...everything..."

Laura's IS changed form to mimic that of a seasoned veteran samurai, who has seen a thousand battles, enlarged to 50x human size.

"I made a more powerful, more permanent one...controllable only by my hand."

The Valkyrie Trace system was back online. It can either be shut off by the user, who at this moment wants to use it to demonstrate her superiority over all things, or defeated from the outside. And since the user shows no signs of retreating-

"AGH!" Chelsea was struck with the force of a thousand swords, instantly depleting her shield energy and sending her flying. Not good.

"Miss Orimura!" Maya screamed, "The Shirokishi!"

"We can't!" Chifuyu screamed back, "It'll compromise the mission!"

"What mission?! This is Rage, Part 2!" As soon as she saw a giant sword come down on her, she grabbed it right before it could hit. But she was quickly lifted off and thrown out.

"Oh my god, STOP!" Chifuyu unleashed her Kurazakura and flung herself at the sword. She swung around its swing and struck the head. But she was simply swatted away. Maya called her Ralfael Revive and tried to distract Laura by piercing her knee.

"Maya! Stay back!"

Too late. She felt a hard fist slam her away from the group. Chelsea flew to save her.

"NOOOOOOOO!" Chifuyu threw her grappling hooks onto towards the head, but the giant grabbed them and flung the Kurazakura towards its sword tip. Cecilia fired her Blue Pierce at the belly, cracking it. Chifuyu took advantage of the knock back to position herself away from the critical strike, but she was crushed by the sword's lateral swing. That didn't stop her from flying right into the belly and puncturing the Valkyrie Trace armor. She immediately grappled onto the area of impact and struck Laura down.

"Commander! Stop!" Clarissa jumped from behind to pierce through the belly and emerge through the other side with Laura safely caught.

And not at all relieved, "Let go, Clarissa! This is between me and her!"

"Oh, bring! It! On!" Cecilia let her drones loose on both the Germans, but Chelsea sliced them both before they could reach their target.

"Chelsea, what is the meaning of this?!" Cecilia aimed her rifle at her own maid.

"Have you forgotten why we are here in the first place?!" Chelsea readied her sabre against her friend and master.

"No," Laura retreated the VT System and redeployed her Schwarzer Regen, "In fact, I want to add her to the list!"

"This is not the time for that!" Clarissa was losing her grip on Laura again.

"Buzz off, pea brain!" Cecilia fired her rifle at them.

She was interrupted by a thunderous boom from Chifuyu and her Kurazakura, "ALCOTT! BODEWIG! STAND DOWN NOW!"

Everyone froze. All four pilots just stared blankly at each other. Clarissa slowly released her grip on her commanding officer, "Geez...Laura..."

Laura's eyes widened. This was the first time that her most trusted subordinate referred to her superior by just the first name. In the army, this was either a sign of disrespect or mistrust. Possibly both. "Clarissa," Laura questioned, "What's gotten into you?"

"Shut your cake hole, bunny lady!" Chifuyu scorned, "Now, you and Miss Mermaid step forward."

Laura and Cecilia sheepishly stepped forward, still confused about why they're being called out.

But they got their answer quick. "I told you on Day 1 of combat training not to let your emotions get the better of you," Chifuyu ranted, "And now look what happened today!" She moved her hands to force the two troublemakers to survey the damage their little skirmish caused, "Absolutely unacceptable...We need a level head to take him down...and YOU TWO ARE NOT! HELPING! AT! ALL!" She knocked on their heads onto her fists with each word. Luckily, they could avoid fainting, but the pain was too sharp to brush off with mere apologies.

"I'm sorry, mentor..." Laura meekly said.

"Apologies, Miss Orimura..." Cecilia meekly said.

"That's CAPTAIN Orimura now..." Chifuyu simply shook her head in disapproval and walked away a few feet.

"Ma'am?..." The two looked at her while she crossed her arms and stared at the night moon.

"It's clear to me that you still allow your feelings toward Ichika to influence over you...even though he's already made his choice," she turned around, "So! Bodewig. You will continue your mission on the eastern part of the city."

"Yes, Captain..."

"Alcott, you now have the same mission...in Akina."

"What?!" Bad news for Cecilia. She would have to hunt down the renegade...by herself...in an entire prefecture drenched in red lights, "You can't do this!" She screamed in disbelief, " Why do I have to resign to surrendering my body to those barbarians out th-"

Chifuyu help her hand to Cecilia's face to silence her, "Because, verbal vomit."

That was the eye opener. Thanks to the renegade, they're all about to fall victim to the mainstream mindset. Actually, Cecilia was already a victim before. Flashbacks to her childhood memories, looking down upon men for not being stronger than her. She even thought that of Ichika before he opened her eyes as well. But one boy she remembers brutally humiliating. A boy that bore a very shocking resemblance to the renegade.

"No...I-I didn't..." The shock of realization finally set in, "I just...it...I didn't mean-"

"Uh, no," Chifuyu snapped, "You did mean."

"I...no..." Cecilia was on the verge of tears, "I just..."

"Go." Chifuyu was angry, "Now."

That did it. In her mind, what followed her beat down of that little boy was a hand that stopped her kick, and another hand that held her fist in check. Her father pinned her leg down. Her mother cuffed her hands behind her head. She could remember those words...

"This is not how I raised my daughter to behave!"

"Do not descend to the level of a beast."

Cecilia descended into tears. She felt like she was no longer worthy of her title of Grand Duchess. How could she have let him get the better of him? Again?

"Yes...Captain..." She lamented. But before she could depart-

"Oh, Laura! Cecilia!" Chifuyu called.

"Yes?..." Laura stopped and turned.

"Wh...what?..." Cecilia kept her face hidden from her.

"Come back before you've cooled off your heads, and I'll use them as charcoal for my next barbecue."

Translation: they've been banned from ever seeing Ichika again. Can you blame them? Even after Ichika made his choice, they still refused to allow him the right to do so. They were turning into the very thing they hated. Was it the renegade's doing? Hell, no! They took a class warning them against gender discrimination! An entire class! This time, however, they have themselves to blame for not listening.

Laura and Cecilia simply floated away.

"Harfouch. Blackett," Chifuyu called their attention, "You two, stay here and scope out the status on the remaining troops here, then fan out and continue the search for the remaining Phantom Task members."

"Yes, Captain," they responded.

"And for ass's sake, don't you dare go near those two love f***s," Chifuyu hissed.

"Yes...Captain..." they responded and left.

Chifuyu heard Maya groan and regain her consciousness. She carried her over to the beach, where the emergency boat was parked, "Come on, Maya, we're going back."

"So soon?" Maya whispered, "Why?"

"The twin-tailed fox sent her cubs over to us."

"Oh," Maya set herself on the boat before realizing what that would mean, "Oh no..."

"I see the island, Major Xingjia!" a cadet signaled.

"Good. Head to the port and signal for immediate docking," she commanded.

"Ichika," Houki called, "we've finished Arena 1 restoration."

"Good," Ichika just got back from the training area, "Let's get down to the residence halls next."

They were about to head off when-

"Hey! The Chinese envoy is arriving!" someone interrupted.

Half of the island personnel, including the IS Pilots, rushed out to welcome the new arrival. Once the boat was docked, the entire Chinese Envoy disembarked, displaying the pride of China in full view. The brigade marched towards one of the officers and greeted her. Then, they sat down to discuss any strategies to capturing the renegade. Ichika and Houki retracted their ISs into standby mode while looking on in amazement.

"Who is that?" Ichika asked

"Dunno," Houki thought, "Apparently, they're supposed to be some really high level Chinese army officers. We got word yesterday that they're coming to help."

"Yeah, but they're crafty, the Chinese."

"And we aren't?"

"Yeah, true..." he sheepishly mumbled.

"Hey, guys!" Someone yelled, "The Chinese envoy wants to greet everyone who will be assisting us in the capture missions!"

Ichika and Houki went down to the greeting area to meet with the rest of the entourage. They all stood at attention while Xingjia greeted all members of the IS Academy. Until she got to Houki.

"Hello, Major," Houki saluted, "We have been expecting you for quite some time now."

"Yes, we have received word that we are to assist your division in the capture of the renegade," Xingjia stated, "I hope to make this mission a resounding success."

"And we as well. Now, if I may, I would like to introduce you to my colleague."

"You're...who?" Xingjia asked puzzlingly. Houki led the envoy to her husband, but she didn't tell them that fact due to strained relations.

"This is my partner, Ichika Orimura," she said, "who led the charge in the fight against Phantom Task and won the Third Mondo Grosso."

"I see..." Xingjia slowly eased her way towards Ichika, trying to contain her digust, with the rest of the envoy looked on with pure contempt, and the rest of the island with curiosity.

The Chinese and Japanese haven't been on good terms since the attack on the Third Mondo Grosso, so negotiations and equal sharing were virtually non-existent. The President of China was hoping that the renegade would be the perfect excuse to re-establish relations with the Prime Minister of Japan. Starting with the two current forerunners in the Infinite Stratos juncture...

Xingjia finally stared down her male "counterpart", who was approaching her with all eyes on him. When he was finally within speaking distance...

"Welcome," he said, "We thank you for allying with us in our-"

He was interrupted with a harsh slap across the mouth. Somehow, Xingjia's nails found their way across his lips. Everyone in the island gasped.

"Do not talk to us so disrespectfully, male trash," Xingjia harshly demanded.

"What did..." Ichika rubbed his mouth, "All I did was-"

Xingjia punched him, then kicked him to the ground. She planted her foot on his hair, "Know your place, you filthy gorilla."

"Kick 'em out." An instructor emerged from the wall of women.

Ichika propped his head up, "What?!" Before the envoy pinned him down entirely.

Xingjia planted her foot on his back before addressing the crowd, "I'm sorry. What was that?"

"If they're not going to work with every single person here," the instructor said, "then kick 'em out."

"You misunderstand," Xingjia spoke a bit too proudly, "We pledge to cooperate with all of you, whatever the means."

"And what about Ichika?" Nohohon blurted out.

"Who?" Xingjia arrogantly wagged her head at Nohohon.

"The first male pilot in the world?" Another instructor shouted.

"You do mean," a member of the envoy wagged her finger, "the first nuisance in the world."

"What is the meaning of this?!" Houki screamed and barged out of the crowd, trying to save Ichika.

"Please, allow me to explain" Xingjia bragged, "If all of you could just cast this...dirty monkey man aside and-"

Xingjia was interrupted by her wrist comm. She tapped it, and a harsh, childish voice boomed, "What's going on?! Why don't I see any action?"

"Oh. Well, we were just explaining to our comrades why this...man-animal should be cast aside along with the rest of the renegade's feces, down the drain."

"Man ani-what the-" the voice stopped, then cheerfully said, "Oh, yeah. I guess I didn't tell you, huh? He's the winner of the 3rd Mondo Grosso, even took down all of Phantom Task."

"What?!" Xingjia screamed, bewildered that a man could utilize a woman's weapon to its fullest extent, "This piece of wasted space touched the Mondo Grosso?!"

"Didn't you know? I mean, you saw it yourself."

"I refuse to believe it!" Xingjia declared, "I will not acknowledge him as anything more than a mating monkey mule!"

"Fine," the voice ended its messaging, "Don't say I didn't warn you."

"But, President Lingyin!"

Suddenly, Tabane snuck up behind the envoy with a megaphone, "And just for that statement..." she said that statement so that Xingjia could clearly hear it, before turning up the megaphone, "The Chinese envoy are now enemies of the state! Take them all into custody!"

Houki, Ichika, and eighty-six instructors called their ISs to the front, ready to detain and concuss. The entire Chinese envoy all had 5th Generation ISs, but they were severely outnumbered. To their surprise, only the male seemed hesitant. The rest of them, all female, looked like they were on the hunt for the World's Most Wanted.

"Do you really want to do this?" Tabane said, tightening her gloves.

"What is your problem?!" one of the Chinese officers questioned, "Why do you choose to harbor this criminal?!"

"Because he isn't the criminal," another instructor stated.

"He bears every weight of blame that the renegade does!" another officer blurted out, "Why do you not see that?!"

"Because he was stuck here rebulding everything!" Nohohon screamed, "Why do YOU not see that?!"

"Because he is a filthy being!" Xingjia lashed out, "He should not be allowed to mingle with the delicate likes of you!"

"I'm dreaming, right?" Ichika could only look on with complete confusion, "This isn't for real..." trying not to laugh.

"Ok!" Tabane screamed, "Release the beast, gals! Let's bring this house down!"

The Chinese envoy forgot about Ichika and immediately sprang into action...and were immediately halted by the welcoming committee right before they set foot into the open convention area. The others fired their lasers and rockets straight at the envoy. Xingjia unleashed her Jin Taiyang and stopped all the missiles, but at the cost of all of her energy. Then, everyone charged straight at the envoy, while Ichika threw up his hands in disbelief,

"Am I on Mars?!" Ichika shouted inaudibly, "Tell me I'm on Mars! None of this makes any goddamn sense! I must be on Mars!" And he was right. The scene that unfolded before him was reminiscent of a pillow fight gone wrong.

Not thirty seconds have passed did the angry instructors broke through the barricade and the rest of the envoy's ISs have had their energy depleted as well, and Xingjia finally begged, "OK! OK! STOOOOOOOOOOOP!"

The instructors surrounded the envoy and held them at gunpoint.

"Say it," one of them demanded.

One of the officers winced, "Say...what exactly?.."

Houki held that officer at neck point with her sword, "We're. Right. Here."

Xingjia knew what they wanted to hear, lest the envoy return to their homeland as branded criminals. She had no choice, "Ugh...fine..." They all stood up and faced down the weapons, "We pledge to cooperate with you on the...capture...of the renegade."

"AND?" Houki demanded.

"Is this really necessa-"

"AAAAAAAAAND?!" They all demanded.

"Ugh..." Xingjia finally gave in, "We will work...with...I...chi...ka..."

"Good," Tabane suddenly changed mood, "Then you can work with him to restore the main communications tower."

"UGH..." the envoy muttered, "Yes, ma'am..."

"Neat-o! Toodle-oo!" And with that, Tabane skipped happily along the path towards the newly rebuilt Arena 2. While everyone else resumed their restoration and renegade hunting duties. They just left them there. The Chinese envoy, honor stained for the first time ever.

And it was all thanks to the gelded pony boy behind them, so they think. Ichika was about to head back to the comms area when Xingjia punched his stomach.

"Listen," she grabbed him by the collar and pinned him down to his knees. "If you even think about trying to get in my way, I'll see you in the penitentiary."

"And if you try, I'll see you on death row."

"Guh-" she knows that voice anywhere. It's the winner of the first Mondo Grosso! But, why would she come to his defense?! Unless...

She heard rumors that she forfeited the second Mondo Grosso to save her brother. Apparently, against every single odd known to woman, it was true. As well as rumors of her very short "non-familial" temper.

"Nothing?" Chifuyu gave her the death stare, shocking Xingjia into absolute silence. "Well, then," Chifuyu resumed, "You're on standby until we actually give you a damn." She kicked some dust and turned to her younger brother, "Ichika, Tabane needs you."

"Uh...right..." And he got up and walked it off as if nothing happened!

"Holy-she wasn't supposed to be back until next week!" he thought while running away from the feminine inferno, "Man, that renegade really knows how to kick up a storm, huh?..."

Just then, his IS bracelet made a faint buzzing sound.

"No, Byakushiki...no," Ichika patted his bracelet, "This is too weird for us to understand."


	3. Renegade Rampage (?)

_Part 3: Renegade Rampage_

"What did I do to deserve this?..." Madoka muttered as she curled up beside the nighttime fire, while Sokoto was off making another legend: the Legend of the-

"OOOGABOOGABOOGABOOGABOOGAA!"

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

-Naked Monkey.

"For crying out loud, SHUT UP RENEGADE!" she screamed.

"I AM NO LONGER THE RENEGADE!" Sokoto deepened his voice and made weird hand and leg gestures, "FROM NOW ON, I AM THE NAKED MONKEY MAN, UKAKUKAAAAA! OO-OO-OO-OO-AAAAA-AA-AA-AA-AAAA-AA-AA!"

"Yeah, I don't doubt that one bit..." Madoka mumbled, stuffing her ears with sand.

Three weeks have passed since their previous encounter with Squall and Autumn. And so far, they've done nothing but hide out under the bushes and spread horror stories. Actually, Madoka has been mapping out her plan of attack once they get to their destination. She memorized the entire layout, right down to the location of her Black Knight and the security cameras. But Sokoto was the wild card, far too unpredictable to remain on point with a single plan. All she's seen him do is wreak havoc on a few shopping outlets-

"HI, M!" Sokoto tried to scare Madoka, but it backfired when she responded to her corner-pocket kick, "OOGH...uuuuuuuuu~"

"Serves you right, monkey butt!" she shouted.

"You...couldn't...hit my belly?...uuhhhh..."

"Geez, didn't your mother ever teach you any better?" Oh no.

"Huh?" he looked up stunned, "What mother?"

"Huh? You're kidding!"

"Um...nope. Never knew nuthin' about no stinkin' mommy."

"What?!" And now, she's curious, "What the hell have you been doing this whole time?"

Sokoto began his story whimsically, "Weeeeeeeeeeell-"

Madoka put up her hand to stop him, "Just talk normally."

And he ran through his life story as if it were a majestic adventure of a boy who was thrown out of his parents' house the instant it was born, but was able to survive this long through the grace of many homeless bums and yakuza gratefulls, who only left him to fend for himself when they knew that it was time for him to move on...because all that was true. He only lasted because the dirt and trash of society would defend him, and he was a very quick learner. Whenever he witnessed fistfights and gang wars, those images were burned into his brain. But instead of the blood and violence, he only focused on the way they moved, the way they reacted, how fast they moved. Throughout his childhood years, he was a wisecracking, havoc reeking hitman, sometimes tagging along with others, throwing parties all across the country. He was set to become a ruthless thug, but at some point he saw something that changed his life.

A mother hugging her daughter tightly, sharing her warmth with her own flesh and blood. They looked happy.

That was enough to rethink his own life. But not quite the way one would expect. When he was 10 years old, he figured that he would never be able to fit in with a family, so he'd focus his preserving that image. But he didn't want to be confined to just one tiny little island country. He'd sneak his way onto airplanes and cruise ships, kicking up parties and riots wherever he went. His sense of justice, however, was influenced by everything he went through. Everybody only gets one chance to make a good impression on him. Screw it up, and they're automatically added to his hit list, a list of people that he has to kill the very next time he sees them.

You'd be surprised how many promises he's made good on.

That was just in a nutshell. And this was the first time that Madoka couldn't comprehend something.

"You seriously expect me to believe all that?..." Madoka questioned.

"Nooooope!" Sokoto playfully cooed, "But I do have the scars to prove it! This little piggy came by the Smithsonian! This little piggy came by the arctic whale warship! Oh, this one I got from-"

"Ok! Ok! Ok! I believe you!" Madoka covered her eyes, "Now please conceal that...THING!"

"Geez! What's with you and concealing things?" Sokoto grabbed the makeshift green leaf undies, "You got some secrets you wanna hide from me as well?"

"Well, uh..." Madoka flustered, "Not...really..."

"Oh?" Sokoto gave her the eye, "Then, what're you drawing behind the fire? Blue prints to our next mission that you weren't going to tell me about, hmmmmm?!"

"What th-oh, these?" Madoka was so relieved that she wouldn't have to give her share of backstory, "I wasn't hiding anything at all!" She led him to the sand "drawing". "This is the layout of the compound we're attacking. I had it in mind that I would sneak my way in through here, and weave my way around security, but..."

"But what?"

"I dunno...they've got guards and cameras all over the place, virtually no one comes in undetected. They've got heat-trackers, motion-sensors, and hidden lasers alike. Each gate also has a passcode which I could hack into and unlock, but that would take some time-"

"Ok, first of all," Sokoto butted in, "before you worry about all of that mumbo jumbo, you need to worry about how the hell you're gonna get to all of that undetected. Move it." He shoved her aside to stare at the drawing for a little bit, "Let's see...uh-huh...hmm..."

"Well, Mr. Nude Kaiser?" she growled, "Anything?"

"Yep!" he clapped his hands, "It's impossible!"

"Huh?" she jittered.

"It's impossible to get through undetected," he turned and looked her square in the eye, "You are gonna need a major distraction, something so big, so threatening, that everyone will have to come out of their hiding holes just to take care of that one idiot! Well, almost everyone, there are some stubborn statues at every bank and office..."

"Oh," she smirked, "And where are we going to get a distraction that mirrors this..." she wagged her arms in mockery, "scale so grand that you have envisioned, my joyous jester?"

He narrowed his eyes in annoyance and slowly reached for his underpants.

She tensed her body in fear and slowly reached for her bamboo knife, "In the hole it stays..."

"Exactly," he grinned.

"Wait..." she second-guessed, "Are we sure that everyone will be all female in that compound?"

"Dude," he groaned, "What high-security compound would ever hire a monkey man to do anything?" And he ran off to scare his final victims.

"*SIGH*...what's gotten into me?..." Madoka knew that this kid would be bad news, but not this bad. But at least he's adaptable, even when she's reeling from a month of her whole life being called into question. And here, she thought that the renegade would be a blood-thirsty assassin. Well, with her brother being roped into all sorts of situations, usually against his will and without his knowledge, honestly, what was she expecting?

Sokoto finally returned and threw his mask into the fire, igniting a giant flame. "So," he excited himself, "when are we going to the party?!"

She dragged him by the ear, "Right f****** now." All the way to the compound...

But she took a scenic route so that everyone could see the little spectacle they've created. Including any cameras that might be hanging from any lampposts. Madoka's crafty.

Two nights later...

Silence all across the metal sanctuary. Spotlights illuminating any and all hidden corners. On the outside, this looks like a branch of the Alcatraz prison complex, but look through the metal fencing, and you see loads upon loads of cargo and IS patrols guarding valuable merchandise. Open spaces surrounding a central steel building area, with only four entryways leading downstairs to who knows where. All of it surrounded by grassy hills with very little cover. A bowl of metal shards, this place is. The duo were standing on its left side, but Madoka looked on with a sense of unease and excitement. This was the exact same compound that she raided to retrieve the Silent Zephyrs years ago. She wonders what's changed since then. Did they increase security in response to advancements in IS technologies? Or did they just toss in more heads to smash?

Sokoto has only raided one compound, and only then by complete accident. This was his first real raid, and he was going to lead the charge.

"You remember the plan, right?..." Madoka whispered.

"Yeah. Cause as much havoc as possible, right?" Sokoto answered

"And stay away from the main area."

"Easy! I don't like small confined compounds anyways."

"*SIGH*" she facepalmed, "...just go over there and wait for my signal..."

He darted off to the left. He knew his overall objective. Madoka said that they were "getting back something they took away from her" by whatever means necessary. In other words, rescue mission. He stopped just outside the compound's field of detection. He waved at Madoka, telling her that it's time.

They waited until the last guard had arrived at the center of the main area. Madoka threw a Hail Mary for a rock at the center of the main area, right over the fence, in sight of the cameras, and directly hitting the guard's noggin. They both darted off even further, just in time to avoid the camera's zoom-in. Madoka grabbed two more rocks and knocked them together to create some sparks, bright enough for Sokoto to see but short enough to not be seen by anyone else. That was the signal. Sokoto emerged from the cover and ran straight for the front gate, making as much noise as possible to attract as many people to his still-exposed man-pendage. Once the spotlights were on him, Madoka ran off as fast as she could for the one loophole that she hopes was still undiscovered: the back door.

"HALT! DO NOT MOVE!" the intercom sounded. Its cameras zoomed in to see what intruder dared to challenge the front gate. Once they zoomed in-

"FEAR ME, YE MORTALS OF FLESHLY FLESHINESS!" Sokoto let everything out, "FOR I AM THE MONKEY MAN, AKUKAKUKAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Bullets, electrified fences, screams, and lights. Everywhere. Sokoto has no problem dodging bullets, when it's just dodging bullets. But he has to get inside the compound perimeter to allow maximum security breach protocol to be enacted and draw out every single guard there.

Madoka finally made it behind the compound unseen. She stopped to catch her breath, but she looked onward towards the chaos. She could still see the gates shut. The main area was relatively clear. He hasn't made it inside yet. She can't go ahead until he gets inside the point in time when all cameras will be on him.

Sokoto forgot about the fence and just had his way with the bullet storm. He made an absolute comedy routine of the bullets, even managing to manipulate them into a Roadrunner cartoon re-enactment. Suddenly, the bullets stopped. The main gates opened. The lights intensified. Sokoto shielded his eyes and tried to see what was emerging from the light. Out from the shining white came three ISs black, red, and blue, each piloted by very angry girls who were fuming red at the head.

And they recognized him.

"Well, well, well, we meet again," the one in black simply said.

"Remember us, from the mall?" the one in blue veered, "When you degraded us from rags to riches?..."

"Why are you all talking at this point in time?!" Sokoto shouted, "I thought you were supposed to be killing me right now!"

"Silence, d***head!" The one in red bellowed, "You will kneel before us, or we will grapple you by the-"

Sokoto caught them monologuing, and appeared in the second girl's face right after they finished their speech...and leg-scissored her head. He tried to twist her neck, but her IS's shielding system prevents this kind of kill. Even better for him, as now she will have to bear the shame of a thousand tastes, washable only by amputation. Sokoto flipped over her and ran inside, hoping to cause even more havoc.

"EEEEWEWEWEWEWEWEW!" She shrieked.

"How...DARE YOU!" the one in blue screamed.

"Fine..." the one in black entered local announcement, "All units to the main compound area! Detain this monkey man and have him experimented on!"

"Alright! I'm in!" Sokoto cheered, "Now, for the others!" He made like a ninja and charged into the giant crates, as three ISs flew in after him. With each step he took, they left behind a trail of destruction. Too blinded by their anger and desire for revenge to see what they're doing, the trio smashed and bashed everything the Sokoto touched, but cannot get a solid blow on him. Finally, after a full minute of grueling death calls, the rest of the security force appear on the scene and try to apprehend Sokoto.

And they all recognize him too!

"Hey! I know him! It's the renegade!"

"S***! Get everyone down here now! All cameras track his movements! Radio the Academy team! Get everyone down here now!"

"At long last," Sokoto whispered, "The time has come!"

Every single IS was now on him, and his body was now on high alert. He sensed for every possible attack they could make, and he reacted accordingly. Not one blade could touch him! Not one bullet could sink into him! And any attack that was about to touch him, ran into somebody else! But the problem isn't whether he could dodge and counterattack or not. It's how long could he keep it up.

Madoka's quick eyes saw the chaos ensuing, "About damn time, renegade." She immediately slid down the hill. She had to generate enough force to kick the door's hinges broken and render the security of the door useless. She did gain enough speed to do so, and she positioned her legs for the kick-

"YOW!" Sokoto made a misstep during his rampage. He was about to take a bullet to the brain, but he quickly recovered and it hit his hair instead, "Ok, don't do that again..."

Madoka winced in head pain. How? She couldn't have felt it at a worse time, because her entire body slammed into the door and broke the entire thing down. She broke the door completely, but her left arm is completely battered and numb.

"Ugh...why?..." Last time, she was alone, so sneaking in was no problem, but this time, she had someone taking the punishment for her, "Damn f***ing pansy...gotta keep going..." She steadied herself and darted into the compound hidden areas.

Just like she remembered. Dark, dank hallways filled to the brim with security measures. Extremely cold temperatures meant heat trackers. Hidden lasers that could shock anyone, cameras set all around, turning at various points. The only thing missing was more bodies. Madoka can't unleash her well-hidden temper just yet. She needs to find the Black Knight first-

*BAM!*

"What the f***ing-"

-quickly. Sokoto's stamina, through 13 years of training and limit breaking, has begun to deplete.

"S***, I told him to stay AWAY from the main building!"

She struggled to stay along the walls until she found the same shortcut she used earlier, but she decided against it because they would've found it by now and made it virtually impassable. Which means that she had to weave her body against its will past the many lasers that stood in her way. Each laser challenged her body like never before, with the added injuries sustained. Each maneuver cost her valuable stamina, and several times did she pay, with the lasers nicking away at her skin every time she messed up.

When she finally made it through, she was nearly battered. Without the feeling of her left side, she can't finish the mission as quickly as usual, if it's possible at all. But she's expecting a huge entourage soon. And the renegade...

"It's about time they actually tried to KILL me!" The renegade was stalling for as much time as possible. He was quick to maneuver around the attacks, even land some surprise blows on the elites, and especially stuffing his goodies in all three of those ladies' faces. But even that didn't last long, as even he showed signs of exhaustion. Several times did he nearly get clawed and blown.

"This has gone on far enough, renegade," a pilot declared.

"Let's end this," the woman in black said, "Come on, girls!"

The three woman charged their lasers and fired in unison, straight at Sokoto, and whoever was trying to pin him down in the first place. But he saw the bright glow of the laser charge and dodged the main hit, right under their noses. The entire entourage of IS pilots got canned by the laser. Sokoto, however, lost the energy to avoid the aftershock of the impact. He was slammed into the compound wall right before some other pilots finally pinned him down. Four fists for each limb, to ensure he can't escape this time.

"We've finally caught him!" one pilot screamed.

"What should we do with him?!" another jeered.

"Let's have him taste the humiliation he gave us!" and another.

And then everyone wanted to do something horrible to the renegade...non-lethally.

'Really?' he thought, 'That's why they're not serving me up on a golden platter? Unless they're gonna serve live renegaram masala, then what's the f***ing point?...'

Someone knew he was thinking sarcastically and squeezed down on his right arm, "What's your problem, noodle-boy?"

"Uh, you have me on a silver platter," he answered, "and yet you're not getting the knives to serve up the dish-"

The woman in red slammed his mouth shut, "Quiet, dick magnet!"

"Well, if it's a cannibal dish you want," the woman in black unsheathed her bayonet, "we'll be more than happy to serve you up. Get ready, everyone." And they all surrounded the renegade, guns and swords aimed at him.

And Madoka felt it. Her body temperature was significantly lowered, causing her to collapse. "Uh...not...now..." She collapsed on the way to the hallway, on top of some lasers. She let out a blood-curling scream, enough to freeze any hardened soldier. Especially one who's not accustomed to looking after someone other than number one. She collapsed on the ground, yet continued to press forward by clawing her way beneath the lasers.

Right around the same time the IS pilots battered Sokoto and slammed him in the front gate. He lay there, waiting for the finishing blow. Instead, they decided to crush him with the front gates. Someone lit the signal, and they all just stood there cheering, waiting for his blood to splatter. While he was lamenting how pathetically tame they were with torturing him. He had s*** stuffed down his throat and back for 10 days straight...WHEN HE WAS 12! AND THIS IS THE BEST THEY CAN DO?!

Well, no surprise when the gates closed, he clawed away just in time. But, THEN he felt what they were trying to do. He clawed under the door, cracking his hands and bones in the process. His stamina had been drained. One hit and he'll easily go down.

"Ugh..." he muttered, "Would've preferred...a more bombastic finish..."

At that moment, he felt three metallic fists pound on him, "YAAGH~" He fell unconscious.

Madoka suddenly stood up. Something was wrong with her. She felt a thud above ground, and with it a surge of energy. She quickly swerved her body around the lasers and made it to the final corridor, where she stood down a guard who heard her scream.

"You're with him..." she whispered.

"No...he's with us..." Madoka said through her teeth, struggling to stand upright.

"You really expect us to believe that?" the guard slowly walked forward.

"Well, I got proof..." Madoka got herself ready to fight, knowing that this was her final moment of sanity. But not the guard. She simply threw her the access card.

"Go...it's in the last room down that hallway," the guard pointed without looking up at her, "But the instant you nab it, they'll be down here."

Madoka slowly took the key card, "I'm counting on it." She walked past the guard and slid the card into the door. The card was accepted, and the door whizzed open. And there it was.

The Black Knight. A much-more-enhanced version of England's Silent Zephyrs, custom made for Madoka Orimura. It wasn't tampered with at all. It was just kept in the shadows for research and development. Madoka steadily removed the wires and prepped the Black Knight for take off.

But before she climbed in, she asked the guard, "By the way...why?"

The guard curled her fists, "That f***ing bastard actually saved my life once...shoved that knife in himself and broke that molester's arm...With this, my debt is paid." And she stormed off to suit up and join her allies up in the main area.

"And your debt with me will begin..." Madoka just tore the card in half and went in.

STATUS CHECK...

ACCESS...

...

...USER RECOGNIZED.

BEGIN OPERATIONS CHECK...

...ALL SYSTEMS GREEN.

TIME OFF IN 3...

2...

1...

"It's about time, M."

"Where are you?"

"Itō, Shizuoka Prefecture."

"You have my current lock-on, right?"

"Yes. You let the cameras see you, right?"

"Yes, Autumn. I know."

"We'll be over in twenty."

"You have ten."

"Whatever." *BZZTT*


	4. Piloteers, Stand By

_Part 4: Piloteers, Stand By..._

Meanwhile, the signal sent out by the IS guards was being received by pilots and news media outlets all across Japan.

- **IS ACADEMY ISLAND** -

Reconstruction of the IS Academy was progressing smoothly. 4 of the 6 Arenas had been fully restored, and enhanced. Most of the administration and classroom buildings have been erected, although they've neglected the residence halls.

For good reason...

"And why are we kicking everyone out, again?!" one instructor demanded.

"We can't risk another security breach," another explained, "Nearly every single incident occurred because we had students living here, and all of those incidents used students as hostages."

"Just because we have students here?!" more instructors chimed in, "They don't know what's down in the basement!"

"These guys are willing to do anything to get their way! I thought they made that clear already!"

"That doesn't mean squat! They'll still drag the citizens in this mess some way or another! Just look at the renegade!"

"We don't know what will happen if we leave our students out there!"

"We can't afford to protect them while we've got precious cargo on our hold!"

Ichika was assembling the Arena 3 docking areas when he overheard that little squabble. He froze when someone mentioned training squads as part of the introductory-class for first-year students, "Uh...what?..."

"We all heard," Kiyoka said, "And believe it or not, it was Nohohon's idea."

"What?!" Ichika dropped the beam hard, crumbling the second docking area, "Why?! How?! Waiwaiwaiwait, don't tell me. Did I influence her decision in any way?"

"No..." Kiyoka scratched her head, "But you were the trigger..."

"Aww, come on," he groaned, "Why am I always the lead in for bad news?!"

"I dunno," she readied her camera, "but I'm quite sure they'll want an answer for it."

"*SIGH* this ain't the time for it, Kiyowa..."

Just then, the nearby comms officer shouted, "Everyone! We've found M and the renegade!"

"Where are they?!"

"Uh, let's see...at the IS Storage Facility."

"Whoa...that's where they attacked a few years back, to raid another group of IS trainees."

"You found who?" Xingjia lit up and rushed to the monitor, while Houki ducked Ichika under a desk.

"Renegade sighted, southeast offshore."

"Good work," Xingjia called to her allies, "The pride of the Golden Dragon! Take off immediate-"

"Hold on there, rag doll," Chifuyu yanked her, "Just where do you think you're going?"

"Agh...we're going to get the renegade..." Xingjia winced, "Why do you stop us?..."

"Because, verbal vomit round two," Chifuyu narrowed her eyebrows, "Twenty seconds ago, we've received a confirmation photo of someone using the renegade as a jump rope and a silly-slappy."

"And?" Xingjia chuckled, "What's wrong with a little torture-"

"He's fully recovered by now!" Chifuyu raged, "What part of total conquest don't these bimbos understand?!"

"Please, you must relax. You overestimate his little prowess. Besides, he only has Phantom Task to thank for his noticing him. He is nothing."

Chifuyu groaned, "Ok, fine. Your ISs are at the docks, fully repaired and operational."

"Thank you," Xingjia bowed and rallied her squad for final preparations. While on her way to the docks, she saw Ichika and Houki working on Arena 3 restoration, and thought it'd be a good idea to pin Ichika down like a scared Bambi. She unsheathed her blowdart and-

-just when she was about to fire, her blowdart, and very nearly, her hand, was cut in two. "Who the-"

"I thought you were heading to the docks," Chifuyu cooed, in her Kurazakura.

Xingjia recollected herself, "Yes...We will go."

"Good," Chifuyu sheathed her twin blades, "go now."

Xingjia gave an evil eye towards Ichika, who was ignorant of what nearly happened, "Captain, may we request to see your wasteful-"

"Go." Chifuyu gave them the death glare, "Now." And they were on their way.

FIfteen minutes later...

"That meddlesome twit..." one of the envoy officers growled, "How dare he reduce the strongest warrior to a weakling fluff pillow?!"

"Were I in charge, I would've locked him away and made an example of him!" another officer chimed in.

"Patience, soldiers," Xingjia reassured them, "We will have our moment of glory, for China and for our President. For now, we can use the renegade as a guinea pig."

"If the Japanese pilots haven't dirtied that ragdoll already."

"Please, no matter how much filth he absorbs...it will never be enough."

- **TENRYU WARD OFFICE, HAMAMATSU, SHIZUOKA PREFECTURE, JAPANESE MAINLAND** -

"THEY WHAT?!" A policewoman screamed.

"Yes," Laura explained, "Phantom Task is mobilizing once more. They've allied with the renegade."

"What...who are they?!"

"One Austrian, one Japanese, and one Canadian. From what I can gather, those are the only three remaining members of Phantom Task. The rest of the organization was annihilated shortly after the third Mondo Grosso."

"Rrgh!" the policewoman crushed her pen, "How could they let this happen?! How could they allow this to unfold?!"

"Well, international power issues and whatnot, no one want to appear weak in the public eye. THey operate underground, stealing IS cores and materials from under the radar, and no one will report it for fear of being overpowered by even the weakest of countries, who would kill to take the top spot on the technological pedestal. And, I am sorry to say, my country has paid for its deception."

"And we're this close to paying for our lies..." the policewoman looked down at the photo of the renegade's escape from Naha, then back at Laura, "Do you know what they look like?"

"Vaguely. The Japanese is short in stature, the Austrian...reddish eyes, I think? But the Canadian, I know she has a mole under her left eye."

"Thank you," the policewoman sighed, "I'll let out an all-points bulletin for all four of them."

"And I'll come back if I see something else in your area."

"Alright," the policewoman shook Laura's hand, "Thank you, miss...uh..."

"Krieger. Annalise Krieger."

"Thank you, Miss Krieger. We'll nab the renegade for sure."

And Laura left the building and plopped down under a tree.

"Of all the horrid coincidences...this has to be the worst," she muttered, "What am I supposed to do now?" Cut off from virtually everyone she knows, she hasn't made any progress finding the renegade at all. Only small tips of the women pulled her closer to his possible whereabouts, but no solid leads. She got up and walked to the main city.

"Such a quaint little town...right," she noted. Every city has a secret, and it's no surprise that they want the renegade found dead. What was going on inside the average home?

"Ugh...Why am I thinking about this..." she rubbed her eyes, "I should be focusing on hanging the-"

Just then, she noticed a peculiar sight in the sky. A moth-like creature flew above the city and headed straight for the coastline. Laura activated her Schwarzer Regen's surveillance mode and donned the head pieces to allow her full coverage and accurate sighting. She zoomed in on the moth in the sky.

"*GASP* That's the-" Laura stood there in amazement before she immediately took off after the moth. She took care to stay away from their sights and move slow enough to avoid detection. She then called onto all local channels, "I'm streaming live. Make sure everyone sees this." The on-board camera was set to live record, and focused on the targets in front of her.

"Come on, then...I'll kill you all myself."

- **ITO, SHIZUOKA PREFECTURE, JAPANESE MAINLAND** -

Autumn was "tending to" Squall when she received a signal from M. She left the curling iron and picked up her phone,

"It's about time, M," she said sarcastically.

"Where are you?" M whispered into the mic.

"Itō, Shizuoka Prefecture."

"You have my current lock-on, right?"

"Yes. You let the cameras see you, right?"

"Yes, Autumn. I know."

"We'll be over in twenty."

"You have ten."

"Whatever," and she cracked her phone in two. She slowly strutted over to Squall, who mustered up only enough strength to keep from fainting.

"This is it, honey bunch," Autumn softly spoke into Squall's ear, who was completely muffled. Autumn carried on, "The brat and the brattier have found what we're looking for. I suppose we should say good-bye, shouldn't we?" Squall squirmed in her restraints, while Autumn walked over to the fireplace.

"But before that, I wanna give you a very special gift...It's something I fashioned myself," Autumn took a hot rod out of the fire, and examined it as if it were the very first doll she'd ever received, "I put a bit of myself into it. I hope you find it pleasing to your skin."

"! MMMMMMMMM! MMMMMM! MMMMMMMM!" Squall was blindfolded, but she knew what was coming. She would receive a permanent mark on her body, but where? Then, she felt Autumn smooth her fingers across her legs, then...

"Now, just relax..." Autumn blew.

"MMMMMM! MMM! MMM! MMM! MM-" Squall felt it. Her flesh was being singed by an iron tattoo marker, as a sign of shame and betrayal. She had to endure it for five full minutes before it was taken away. Finally, with some relief, her body was futilely shaking itself back into serenity.

"There we go! Good as new!" Autumn patted the new mark, then released Squall of her restraints. She noticed Squall panting, wheezing, drooling, and vomitting uncontrollably. She patter her on the back to give her some ease of mind and sense of security. She drew Squall in for a gentle hug and leaned on her shoulder before speaking.

"I guess...this is goodbye, then..." she said solemnly while tightening her grip on Squall's neck.

"ACK...Uhhhhhh..." Squall couldn't feel the rest of her body. She loked at Autumn's eyes for a split second before realizing that she didn't want to kill her, at least not like how Autumn almost died. As soon as she looked away, Autumn let go.

"Goodbye...for now," Autumn took out a collar with a leash and latched it onto Squall's neck, who was still fighting for some fresh air as she was dragged all the way to the first floor emergency exit.

"Come on, sweetie pie," Autumn yanked the leash and forced Squall on her feet, "They're waiting for us."

She called forth the Shinomure and took off to the skies, near lifeless body in tow.

- **SAPPORO TV TOWER, SAPPORO, HOKKAIDO PREFECTURE, NORTHERN JAPAN** -

A news report was being broadcast throughout the city, where nearly 2 million people paid heed,

"This is a special NHK News Alert, regarding the safety of the Japanese people and the status of the renegade. The renegade was last seen near the Toky Prince Hotel in the Kanto Prefecture, where he interrupted the welcome of Tokyo's first male Independent into the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly. Also following him was an IS pilot, chasing him into the hotel and causing millions in collateral damage. The images shown here are no loess short of shocking and unfathomable, as the renegade seeks to tip the political balance of power over its pivot point and destroy the scales outright. This was confirmed as well when the same IS pilot spotted the renegade's accomplices, members of the organization formerly known as Phantom Task, an international terrorist organization turned death row inmates. Of the organization, 75% have been put to death, and nearly 25% were sent to North Korea for a lifetime sentence of hard labor. Only three remain, and one of them was last sighted at the giant chasm off the southern coast, piloting a stolen IS unit.

This is live footage of one of the IS pilots right now, tailing a Phantom Task member bound for the renegade. We don't know what they're planning, but for the safety of all the people, you must find safety immediately. We will have countermeasure prepared once we are able to determine the exact destination of the renegade's entourage. If you come across the renegade, do not attempt to approach him, as he is known to manipulate others into doing all manners of horrendous deeds..."

Well, if the renegade's goal was to incite chaos, it was working. The entire city scrambled inside for some kind of shelter.

Except a few male soldiers, who instead alerted nearby units to track Captain Bodewig's location.

- **AKINA (MOUNT HARUNA), GUNMA PREFECTURE, JAPANESE MAINLAND** -

"I should be there!" Cecilia groaned, "But here I am, delving into the most despicable of businesses possible!"

From Grand Duchess all the way down to undercover spy, she has been deigned to surveillance in the Akina Race Bar, in Gunma prefecture, a red light district. She was watching the now nation-wide coverage of the manhunt, with images connecting the renegade to various local disasters that occurred in the past month. All the while pressing on how he should pay for what he's done to womankind.

"Well..." she griped, taking a sip of sake, "at least it's not as bad as it could've been. They're not forcing women into prostitution anymore." No, that's men-ok, I'll shut up.

The newscast switched to a live camera view, showing two of the target fugitives flying towards the sunset.

"That's a live camera...how is she able to-"

The newscasters interrupted, "We have just received word from the IS Academy reconstruction team that the Chinese government has assisted in the capture efforts. Five members from the Special Elite have stopped by the Academy grounds to-"

"The Chinese envoy?" she slammed her head down hard, "Oh, no...at the worst possible time..."

"What are you grumbling about?" a waitress asked from behind.

"Oh!" Cecilia peeped up and turned around, flustered, "Ah, nothing! Nothing of any importance!"

The waitress crossed her arms, "You certainly don't sound like it's nothing."

"Well..." Cecilia slumped, "Ok, it is a big deal."

"Hey..." the waitress cocked her head a little, "you look familiar."

"Do I?" Cecilia was surprised. Who would recognize her all the way in the mountains?

"Yeah, aren't you that British girl...Yeah! England's Representative Candidate!" the waitress seemed jubilant.

"Well, hehe, guilty as charged." And there goes Cecilia's slightly arrogant persona. Haven't seen that in a long time, have we?...

"What are you doing here, in a red light district?!" the waitress readied two sake cups for the both of them.

"Well, you see..."

And they completely forgot about her worries as the drank and joked the night away.

- **SECURITY COMPOUND, UNDISCLOSED LOCATION, JAPANESE OFFSHORE** -

The IS pilots still haven't disembodied the renegade yet!

Because they're too busy making sport of the now limp body of the unconscious punching bag, while calling for backup and media coverage.

"The Chinese envoy are on their way!"

"Hey! Toss him over here!"

"Come on! Get up, ya limp d***!"

"Three minutes till the news people arrive!"

"This is great! Let's mop up the rest of the compound with this!"

"No way! He'll just dirty up the place again!"

And while they were having the best time of their lives, one black rabbit was observing the brouhaha in absolute rage.

"Tch...why haven't they killed him yet?!" Laura whispered, "The longer you toy with him, the more recovery time he has! Just slice his throat and end it already!" She was standing by with the live feed, landing after she got near enough to the compound, when the moth and her hostage landed behind her, working their way to the other side.

"Ok, Squally," Autumn woke her dried-out companion, "Let's get to work." She withdrew her Shinomure and snuck her way up the hills while Squall walked around, looking for a safe vantage point.

Squall cracked her neck to relieve a bit of tension, "UGH...uy, did you have to shank me five times?..." She felt around her chest and torso, taking care not to touch any -"NNGH! Ow..." -open wounds, "S***, I don't know if I can do this..."

"Well, you have to," Autumn said with her serious tone of voice, "It's not every day we break in just to break back out."

"But what is even the purpose, anyway?..." Squall complained.

"Shut it..." Madoka whispered, "I want to tear off as many heads as possible...and I don't need you sassy-brats ruining my kill vibe..."

"Right...everyone, hold and wait," Autumn said before disconnecting all communication.

Squall found a shallow hole and ducked inside. From her vantage point, she can see the other IS pilots toying with the renegade.

"Come one, little man!" one of them said, "Don't you have any friends to save?!" She slammed him into the crates.

"How dare you defile this place with your filth?!" another pilot stomped on him and used her leg to mop up the mess, "Clean it up!"

"Now, now," a voice from on high boomed, "surely this shouldn't be how you treat all your honored guests."

"Hey, look!" a pilot pointed to the sky, "It's the Chinese envoy!"

The Chinese pilots have arrived, along with ISs specially designed for surveillance and information transfer (news crap).

Laura looked on as the Chinese pilots landed in the main area, "The envoy...maybe they'll finally-"

One of the officers walked to have a turn with punching the renegade, while the others were signing autographs.

"Wake up, maggot," the officer slapped the renegade.

"WHAT THE F***?!" Laura broke one of her beam sabers, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"Unresponsive," Xingjia said as he held him up by the leg, "As typical of any piss-ridden flea-bag."

"What's the matter, renegade?" an officer taunted, "Mommy not here to wake you up..." Before punching him toward the back, "BECAUSE SHE THREW YOU AWAY?!"

The renegade lay unconscious, battered and bruised. The envoy surrounded him, and the pilots hovered above them. All of them were spitting and laughing at him for having fallen to such a pathetic state.

"So, what should we do with him?!" a pilot jeered.

"We'll take him back to the concentration camps," Xingjia said, "We'll clean up the mess for you."

"No! Don't take him back!" Laura squeezed her IS's ears, "Kill him! KILL HIM!"

That tore it. She cut the feed and fired her wire daggers at the huge crowd. They latched onto the fence and acted as grappling hooks for her. She crashed through the fence, blasting everyone out of the way.

"What the hell was that?!" One of the officers yelped.

Xingjia looked on once the dust cleared. She saw the Schwarzer Regen, "That's...what is she doing here?!"

Laura retrached her wire daggers, "Finishing your job."

At that moment, the renegade regained consciousness, "*YAAWWWNNNN...****** Good morning, people..." He was immediately pinned down by four wire-daggers, "Yow!"

Laura aimed her railgun at his head, "And in one instant, it's good night. Permanently." She was about to fire, when the main building came crumbling down.

"What the-HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?!" a pilot screamed in agony.

"It's because of me," the person responsible for the destruction emerged from the rubble and clouds of smoke, "Remember me, Bodewig?"

"You!" Laura quaked, "I...I...I thought we chased you out of the country..." She tried to fire her railgun, but a huge gust of wind nearly knocked her, and every other pilot backwards.

"And don't forget about me," the pilots of the moth-like IS came down to join the battle, "I am among your targets, am I not?"

"What is going on here?" Sokoto gasped to himself, "I thought they were trying to kill me..."

"Easy, blubberball," someone crept up from behind him.

"What th-" Sokoto turned around and saw, "Geez! Don't scare me like that!"

"You're with me now," Squall said.

"Well, well, well," Xingjia walked around the central area, "Isn't this nice? We have all the fugitives right here, in the palm of our hands. So, why don't we make this easy on us and take them all under our noose, huh?"

"Don't you mean," Laura refocused her railgun at some random pilots, "over the Pit of Oblivion?" and fired.

One of the Chinese officers blocked the shot just in time, "What are you doing?! You're supposed to be cooperating with us!"

"I will cooperate with you," Laura readied her blade, "in eradicating him."

"Easy, Black Rabbit," a pilot tried to calm her down, "We're just going to take him with-"

"HE MUST DIE!" Laura charged at the renegade again, this time only to be blocked by Madoka, who immediately sent her back with a pierce of her lance. Autumn opened fire with her wings, blasting the rest of the compound down.

"Laura!" Xingjia yelled, "You must cease and desist!"

"Not until I have his head!" Laura responded, "And I'll cease anyone who gets in my way!"

Sokoto looked on as he saw IS pilots from Germany, Japan, China, Austria, Canada, and more nationalities (thanks to the pilots of the compound) battle it out for control of one f***ing person.

"Oh my gosh!" The renegade was geeking out, "It's an all-out World War! THIS IS THE COOLEST THING EVAR!"


	5. The First World Conference

_Part 5: The First World "Conference"  
_

"Infinite Stratos, activate!" Cecilia is having too much fun at the bar...

"Wait, what are you-" the waitress was startled.

"Piloteers, standby!"

"The sake has gotten to you, hasn't it?" the waitress felt Cecilia's forehead.

Cecilia slumped over and looked at her companion goofy-like, "Why does this remind me of the Annihilator Series?"

The waitress clasped her hands together in excitement, "You watched Robot Wars, too?!"

"Yeah! Though I don't see what the point is now that we have the IS..."

"True, that..." after that, the waitress raised her glass, "Well, why don't we let loose tonight, and tomorrow we can go back to our everyday lives?"

"YAHOOO!" Cheerful as always, she toasted her, "Here's to a new night of fun!" And they drank their 20th sake cup, and loaded on more...

"Hey, Cecilia! It's about to start!" The waitress pointed to the TV screen.

"Ooooo, Emiemiemiemiemiit's going doooowwwwnn!" The two hugged each other in excitement while a real fight was about to begin.

"It's chaos here at the compound," the newscast said, "21 pilots have gathered to fight for control over the renegade! And it looks like the Chinese envoy is about to make the first clash!"

"Here it comes!" Cecilia cheered, and the two counted down,

"3!" Xingjia lunged at the renegade.

"2!" Laura charged her railgun. Squall hugged Sokoto.

"1!" Madoka dove head-first into the pilot entourage, while Autumn, for some reason, chose to remain in the sky.

"ACTI(DO)VATE(IT)!" Too many ISs getting hit at the same time! I can't tell what's going on anymore!

"Do what?" the waitress asked puzzled.

"I always thought it sounded cooler than, 3-2-1-activate."

"Oh, that's all?"

Cecilia suddenly saw Laura on screen, "YAHOO! That's my girl!"

"Kick his ass, Dragon Lady!" and then suddenly everyone at the bar mistook this very important fight for a robotic brawl.

All except one particular blue-haired, hairpinned girl, "They do know that this is a battle for Japan, too...right?..." as she slowly sipped her cocktail.

Meanwhile, the compound became a literal warzone.

"We have to get you out of here, Sokoto!" Squall begged.

"Are you kidding?!" Sokoto lashed out, "THIS IS THE BIGGEST ROBOT WARS EVENT TO EVER HAPPEN AND I AIN'T GONNA MISS IT FOR ONE SECOND! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FI-"

A rocket narrowly missed them.

"CAN WE GO NOW?!" Squall picked up the renegade and made haste, while Laura launched a wire dagger at them. At the same time, Xingjia was trying to scoop them up, but accidentally ran into the wire dagger.

"Rrgh!" Laura was enraged, "What are you doing?!"

"The renegade is mine!" Xingjia let her pride get the best of her, "I will not let you grant him the luxury of a swift death!"

Laura scanned the rest of the battlefield: Madoka and Autumn were taking turns engaging the pilots and swiping potshots at the envoy. Squall and the renegade were escaping while Xingjia was blocking her way.

"Well, if you won't stand down, then so be it," Laura activated her Valkyrie Trace system, "Neither will I."

Xingjia seemed to be a bit shaken, "You're going this far...just to hinder my progress?!"

"Well, you won't kill him, as he is one that can't be killed easily," Laura said while changing her form to an all-too-familiar appearance, "It's like one of your own said..."

"Oh no...no, you wouldn't!" Xingjia activated her shield, but noticed the renegade escaping and launched two rockets to keep them in check. Madoka kicked a pilot in the way to defend them. Like a dragon, Xingjia swerved past the chaos and charged straight at the renegade.

"Incoming!" Sokoto said as he punched Squall's throat, making her collapse and duck under the Xingjia's blade, who returned fire with two more rockets. He rolled over to avoid the blast...the wrong way. The explosion sent him back into the chaotic fray.

"No! Sokoto!" Squall screamed, but then she noticed a black angel charging towards Xingjia at a frightening speed. It punched, but it was easily blocked.

"To know your enemy," it said, "you must become your enemy." She punched and kicked Xingjia down to the main arena, narrowly missing Sokoto.

"Geez-us, woman!" He screamed, "What's your problem?!"

"Ngh...shut up, you filthy renega-" She was interrupted by a huge gust of wind, followed by small explosions on her back, and the other pilots' back.

Sokoto was unfazed, however. He stared at what Laura had become.

"No...how did you..." The VT system was supposed to mimic the strongest IS pilots known to the world, A.K.A. the winners of the Mondo Grosso.

So, why did it take the form of the Silver Streamline?!

"Ohohoho, I ALWAYS KNEW YOU WERE A PAGAN WITCH!" he pointed his finger at her. But she gave no answer and fired the grappling arrow straight at him. He tried to run away, but his legs were too beaten to move properly. Luckily, she was stopped by Madoka's twin lance strike & blast. Autumn was up high doing damage control, keeping the fight contained within the compound.

"What are you two doing?!" Madoka yelled, "Get out of here!"

"But...but the paga-" Sokoto was dragged over by Squall.

"You! Come back here!" Xingjia rallied the rest of the envoy after the renegade, but Autumn repeatedly held them back. Her IS could deal major damage by generating wind and launching extremely accurate energy missiles for widespread effect, but she can't get too close to the action, lest she risk an open wound. Plus-

"Geez!" Sokoto flinched, "Watch where you're aiming, woman!"

"Sorry!" Autumn shouted, "I meant to aim at the blonde."

"Wha..." he looked up at Squall, who looked away in shame. But then, they noticed the envoy charging into them. "Idea SHOVE!" Sokoto elbowed Squall in the stomach, making her crouch down and barely miss the envoy's sword swipe.

But that didn't stop Laura from bulldozing right through them and grabbing the renegade and Squall.

"Hey! She's got the renegade!" one of the pilots pointed while struggling with the Black Knight.

"Dammit! After them!" the other pilots flew after them.

"F***ING S***STAIN DUMBA**!" Madoka screamed as she broke through her target's energy shield and ripped her target's limbs off, "AUTUMN!"

"I know!" Autumn launched a Thousand Gust attack, haphazardly flinging all energy blasts at the rampaging group. Laura held Sokoto and Squall up to the blasts, hoping that one of then would hit them. But she felt a few missiles strike her back.

And all of a sudden, everyone went after her.

"The renegade must not be allowed the luxury of a quick or painless death!" An officer of the envoy snuck up and sucker blasted her, causing Laura to drop the duo. She changed targets immediately and proceeded to pummel the officer, who held out her own against her.

Meanwhile, Sokoto and Squall were plunging to their death of a hundred bullets. But they were stopped short of a crushing punch from an envoy officer, which rocketed them back into the main area fence. Three more pilots surrounded them.

"Geez, you don't know when to quit, DO YOU?!" a pilot tried to punch, but he ducked under just in time. The other envoy officers pulled the pilots away, only to get their tick in with the renegade.

And that's when it started.

"What do you think you're doing?!" a pilot screamed at the envoy.

"The renegade is ours for the taking!" an officer screamed back.

"No! We get to decide what to do with him!"

"We need him for experimentation!"

"No! He has to pay for what he's done!" the pilot fired at point-blank range on the officer, who then fired a rocket back.

And then, total mayhem. The envoy had to fend off the pilots who wanted to strangle the renegade, who was able to escape thanks to Squall's desperation and quick eyes.

"Squall!" he screamed, "What's happening?!"

"They all want a piece of you!" she ducked under to protect him from the brimstone residue, "And they can't decide what's the best way to scatter your brains and limbs-HEY HEY NOOOO!"

Someone's dragging Squall back into the chaos! "No! M, help!"

Madoka charged and stabbed four pilots before Xingjia suddenly grabber her lance and swung her down to the ground. But Laura punched her way through to both of them, blocking every single attack they threw while giving even more back at them. Some of the pilots noticed the brawl and broke it up, taking them all on 5 to one each. Autumn blasted the entire battle arena with her energy wings firing bullets and lasers everywhere. Sokoto was trying to crawl his way through the mayhem, trying to find out where Squall went. He saw her flying through the missile barrage, trying to find him.

And some pilots were trying to find her as well. Two officers flew in towards Squall, guns a-blazing. Autumn dove in just in time to shield her from the attack, while shoving her towards the clearing and blasting the officers in their faces.

Squall dove shoulder-first in the ground, sliding into the wall. With four pilots in tail, ready to slice her up. But they were stopped by Madoka, whose lasers pushed all of them against the wall right next to Squall, and opened them up to an endless slash-and-stab. Squall was severely weakened by the crash, as she awaited four more pilots to crash into her-

-who were surprisingly stopped by another officer of the envoy, "No! She's not the target! It's him we need!"

They saw the renegade emerge scathed past the brawl. He saw what was going on: the head of the Chinese envoy and the pagan witch who stole Silvia's exact form slugging each other out, while the rest of the envoy and pilots scrambling with each other to make out the confusion, Squall trying to defend herself from getting touched by an IS, Madoka just killing whoever she touches, and Autumn trying to control the damage.

"Gotta get out of here somehow..." he said to himself, when he just saw a team of officers and pilots charging straight at him. He had no choice. He has to use them to get himself out.

But then, he saw Laura throw away everyone that came at her just to charge towards him, "They can hold their own! I got a score to settle! And now that she's stolen my dear friend," he bashed his legs against the fence and ran towards Laura, "she can't use that stupid barrier thing!" He leaped at her the same time she readied her punch. But an officer interrupted their attack, punching the renegade away as she herself was punched back.

He flew into a missile barrage, but managed to evade every bullet, except for one brutal punch from a pilot. He keeled over to hack the fluid from his stomach, but she grabbed his neck and peered him in the eye, "Ready to pay with your life?"

"Are you actually gonna TRY to kill me this time?" he spat at her face, and she was about ready to punch him again right before she was blown back by Autumn, and then blasted by other pilots who mistook her for one of the fugitive.

"Hey, what's the big idea?!" she screamed before Autumn blasted everyone again. But somebody finally found her and engaged her in a one-on-one midair battle. She kept closing the distance, while Autumn tried to back away and fight her at mid-range. Laura was finally consumed with rage and just slugged at everyone who was blocking her way to the renegade. Xingjia and the envoy tried to remain focused, but they were constantly encumbered with the other pilots, who somehow thought that they wanted the renegade all to themselves.

Sokoto scanned the chaos for a possible way out. No luck, because two envoy officers found him and surrounded him. They were just about to disable him when Madoka snuck behind them and lanced them. They got away, but more pilots soon took them to the skies. More pilots soon took off after the renegade, but Laura pummeled them down, while Xingjia dealt with Autumn and Madoka in an effort to prevent them from aiding the renegade. He saw Squall trying to reach him-

"No! Don't!" he shouted, stopping her from crossing the combat zone, "We need a distraction!"

An officer stomped right behind him, "Maybe I can provide, one," and grabbed him. "I have the renegade, Major."

"At long last," Xingjia responded while taking heavy fire, "Take him to the transport boat!" And then she fired heavily on Madoka and Autumn, who blocked it with the lances and wing gusts.

"M..." Autumn whispered, "They've got him..."

"He's out of the picture..." Madoka cooed, "He's not here anymore..."

"What's it to you, feeble vermin?" Xingjia taunted, before receiving a sucker punch from Madoka.

"PHANTOM TASK, ANNIHILATION!" They screamed as they split up. Madoka engaged Xingjia, keeping the pressure on with her twin Star Lance swords, while exposing any weak spot with her Star Breaker heavy gun. Xingjia's Golden Dragon was mainly a close-combat unit, so she tried to utilize her Ignition Boosts to get up close and personal, but she has to rely solely on her reaction reflexes to dodge the fire from the Star Breaker. Meanwhile, Autumn put her Shinomure to good use, flapping her wings and causing gusts to disrupt any chance of focus and energy waves to shatter the ground. Laura completely lost it and pushed aside the other pilots for a chance at the renegade, while two of the five envoy officers tried to block her way. Three officers were on the ground, delivering the finishing blows to some of the pilots, shattering their shield energy and destroying their ISs. Autumn appeared right behind them and blasted their energy depleted as well, while critically injuring five pilots. But right before she could kill them, more pilots shot her wings down and had their turn with her. And Laura finally fended off the two other officers to get to the renegade, while Madoka was fending off Xingjia hoping to lure her in against Laura.

"Ok, distraction granted," Squall noticed that all the attention of the fight was solely focused on Sokoto, and snuck threw a hole in the fence long enough to grab a flash-bang grenade and protective glasses.

In a mad fit of rage, Laura defeated one pilot while catching the other one off guard, making her drop the renegade. Laura aimed the grappling hook at him, and fired. Madoka led Xingjia on a chase, and the hook slammed into Madoka. The force of the grapple attracted them, but Madoka chose to block and make the two crash to the ground. Xingjia swerved and caught the renegade before he hit the ground.

"You thought you could escape my wrath?" she ticked.

"Why die...to run..." he said unconsciously.

But she noticed Autumn about to slam into her, so she used her dragon tail to pierce the Shinomure's shield, taking a full Thousand Gusts directly. The impact made her drop Sokoto, and the force pushed him back to the main clearing.

"Hey! Hang in there!" Squall ran toward Sokoto, but was halted immediately by a few remaining pilots who managed to survive the onslaught.

"Why are you helping the little licker?" one of them asked, readying her gun.

"That's your biggest question right now?" Squall mouthed on.

"YES! Why do you choose to harbor this vile little evil?!"

"And you're not gonna notice the-" Squall occupied them long enough for Laura to fire her hook at Sokoto, get redirected by Autumn's gusts, and land straight into them. The grapple reeled Laura in and they felt the full force of the punch. Madoka took a harsh hit from Xingjia's dragon tail to fly into Laura, causing her to kick Madoka out of the way and fire another shot at the renegade. Again, it was blocked, this time by Xingjia, who could only block the incoming punch. The other pilots tried to join in the fight, but this time, Madoka and Autumn teamed up and made sure the pilots never got the chance.

"Autumn, hang high!" Madoka said after they finished their onslaught. Autumn flew into the air and blasted the entire compound once more. The remaining officer in play tried to fire at the renegade, but Madoka Lance'd her back and made the officer take her turn.

"Ok, kid!" Squall ran back to the renegade, "Here's a gun, here's some glasses, here's a teddy bear, now let's blow this joint M AUTUMN SHIELD YOUR EYES!"

Squall signaled M and Autumn, and immediately triggered the flash-bang grenade. A gigantic flash of light blinded the entire compound and beyond. Autumn closed her eyes and just blasted away, dealing widespread damage to the compound and surrounding area while running her shield energy low. Madoka closed her eyes and just stopped whatever she was doing to allow the flash to take its time. Laura copied the entire Silver Streamline onto her system, including the goggles which protected from blinding attacks.

Everyone else got blinded. Xingjia had no protection against something so mundane and outdated, which was just the thing Laura needed to close in and use the last of the VT energy to shatter the Golden Dragon. Autumn's blasts hit everything and everyone, damaging the media crew and taking on a death toll. And under that exact same cover, Madoka managed to subdue and kill the other grunts still on an IS. Squall carried Sokoto out of the compound.

When the flash receded, Laura withdrew her VT system and recalled her Schwarzer Regen. She was low on energy, but she still had to chase down the renegade. The Chinese envoy are completely disabled, and the rest of the IS force was either injured or killed. She flew high to find a visual of the renegade, and she found him being carried through the forest.

"Oh, no you don't!" she IB'd straight into the forest, while the envoy are reeling from the brawl.

Xingjia stretched out her hip when she surveyed the area. She saw the other officers barely manage to recover. "What are you doing?!" she screamed, "They're getting away!"

"Our ISs are disabled!" And officer said, "Should we call in reinforcements?"

"Damn you, Black Rabbit..." Xingjia cursed, "If only you had stay out of our way..."

Squall ducked behind a tree to giver herself time to recover. She set the renegade on his back and splashed a water balloon on him.

"Uh...ow, my everything-HUH?!" he screamed flailing his arms.

"Hey, hey, hey! Easy! Easy!" she restrained him, "It's ok! We're ok! Everything's gonna be fine!"

Sokoto took some deep breaths and calmed down a bit, "Whew...ok...what kind of..."

"Everyone was defeated," she explained, "We just needed to break out, but then everyone else started aiming for you, and kinda forgot about us."

"Really?..." he said with exhaustion, "That's what's led to billions of yen in damages?"

"Pretty much," she peeked over her shoulder and saw men in gray armor, "Damn...German forces...oh well, we weren't supposed to-"

"LOOK OUT!" Sokoto shoved Squall against the tree before a missile flew in and shattered the forestry. Trees and bushed instantly burned, clearing the shadowy green of its only cover.

"Ow! What th-" Squall coughed before she wafted away the smoke. She saw Laura in pursuit, releasing the wire daggers to try and pin them down. She fire her gun on the Schwarzer Regen, trying to disable its railgun, but it fired once more. Squall pushed Sokoto away and dodged the missile again, but this time the aftershock sent them over the giant hole and into the deep forest, bordering the beaches and soldiers. They were thrashed into more bushes, out of sight at least for a while.

But that didn't stop the regular military from storming the forest to find them out.

Or Laura from clearing the entire field to find them, "All units! Shoot at anything that is not wearing any clothing! We will bring the renegade to retribution, dead or alive!"

The soldiers began firing upon the bushes, trees, and anything else that might be considered movable. A few bullets narrowly missed Squall, but Sokoto suffered two hits for shielding her from the attack.

"Captain!" A soldier yelled, "We heard something!"

"Oh no..." Squall whispered, fearing for the worst, "Come on, Sokoto! Get up!"

Sokoto tried desperately to move any muscle, but he lost all feeling in his body, "Can't...need to..."

"There they are!" someone yelled. Laura turned her head and saw the renegade and his accomplice struggling to break free from the tree trunk. She readied her railgun, "Do it! Fire now!"

But just when everyone was about to shoot, a gust of wind and energy disabled their weapons and knocked the soldiers to the ground, and a huge laser destroyed the railgun. Squall looked up and saw Autumn and M return to help them escape. Laura once again became enraged and charged at Sokoto, but Madoka rushed down and blocked her punches, strikes, and stabs.

"F*** are you doing?! Get out of here!" she yelled as she was frozen by the A.I.C.

"MOVE!" Laura used her beam sword and stabbed Madoka out of the way, but Autumn rammed her with energy attacks and wind blows. Laura once again used her A.I.C. to freeze her in place, but when she used the wire-daggers to reel her in, Madoka struck her backside, throwing Laura off-balance and opened her to a relentless assault. Once that spread its shockwaves across the forest, immobilizing the soldiers, barely missing Squall and Sokoto, who managed to escape under the confusion.

Once the chaos subsided, the forest was calm again. Except for three pilots who ran their ISs empty.

Squall just kept running until she found and empty car. She broke the windows and stuffed Sokoto in the back seat.

"Ow..." he muttered, "What in blue...hey, where's Anna and Madoka?..."

"They can hold their own," she stammered while hotwiring the car, "Come on, come on, co-YES!" Once the car started up, she immediately took off, away from the chaos. It was a good ten minutes before Sokoto started talking again,

"Hey, Squall...Where are we going?..."

She looked in the back mirror, "Hopefully, somewhere they'll never find us..." She turned off all lights to avoid any possible detection.

"Good...luck..." he said before fainting again. She smiled as she hung a necklace to the mirror, disabling all tracking devices from receiving from this car. It was just the two of them now, forced to split from the rest of the world once more.

Back in the Akina Race Bar, everyone was furious at the battle results. The Chinese envoy was defeated, the regular pilots were wiped out (several dead), the black IS was down, and Phantom Task was withdrawn for the time being. The capture mission was a complete failure.

"ARE?! YOU?! KIDDING MEEEEEEEEEE?!" The waitress slammed her 30th sake cup on the ground, "HE GOT AWAY AGAIN?!"

"Aww...that means I gotta go find him down..." Cecilia slumped over the bar, trying to reach for an imaginary TV remote.

"Or...you could lure him here," another woman stepped in to join the conversation.

"Lure him-what?" Cecilia blinked, then looked at herself and the other bar-goers, "Well, with these deceptively charming figures, who wouldn't resist a one-night stand with us?!"

"Yeah, that's right!" The waitress joined in, "We'll bring him down ourselves!"

"And the best part is," Cecilia shouted, "WE don't have to do a goddamn thing! We'll let HIM cause all the chaos and drown him in his own medicine! And once we have him right where we want him," she called out her two drones and grabbed them as if they were shields and raised them high, "we'll fill all his holes with our womanly poison and suffocate him! Now, who's with me?!"

The entire race bar cheered and chanted with her, ready to join the fight and bring the renegade down themselves.

All except for one person who slammed her empty glass down on the table, "I cannot believe what I'm hearing..."

She slowly walked out of the bar and onto her motorcycle, taking careful note of the noise being roused by the Candidate who is now a leader in her own right. Shame she didn't drop her ego once, even in the face of inevitable loss. Some things never change...

"I suppose I'll have to join the fray at some point in time, won't I?..." she sighed as she adjusted her glasses, ignited the engine, and mounted up. Then, she swerved in the face of oncoming traffic and curved that driver into the guardrail.

"Oh well...As long as I don't have to fight." She brushed her hair aside and rode off into the night.

 _And yet, two more fighters are destined to fix this now broken world. One to rally the nation against, one to disobey civilly._

 _Meanwhile, Squall and Sokoto have gained too much attention and must stay underground, while Autumn and M are now the faces of attention._

 _What will they do to bring more chaos and instability to the world? And how will they act upon their reinvigorated thirst for blood?_

 _It's crunch time for the world of weaponized peace as we await the next episode of Infinite Stratos: Virus._


End file.
